If you’ve spent any time behind the wheel of a car, you’ve probably seen someone place their automatic vehicle into the “Park” position while waiting at a stoplight. While not typical, I’ve witnessed this phenomenon countless times over my years of driving.
Having pretty much always driven manual cars (save for press vehicle loaners and rentals), I never really understood why people did this. That is, until recently, when I bought my first automatic car, my 2008 Land Rover Range Rover.
Now I get it. I’m not ashamed to admit I place my car in Park at stoplights all the time. Logic suggests this is dumb for several reasons, yet I keep doing it. Let me explain myself.
Yeah, It’s Bad, I Know
While not illegal, putting your car in Park while stationary on an active roadway opens you up to a multitude of safety risks. If you need to quickly move out of the way because a car is barrelling towards you at high speed, you no longer have to simply lift the brake—you have to put your foot on the brake and shift the car into Drive to get moving, wasting precious moments.
Placing your car in park also signals to other drivers that your foot isn’t on the brake, which, to someone behind you not paying attention, could suggest your car is moving forward, causing them to roll forward and rear-end you. The act of shifting to Park and back to Drive might also briefly command your reverse lights to activate, further confusing other motorists. So, officially, I recommend that no one put their car in Park at a stoplight.
There’s also the possibility that doing this stoplight-parking could put unnecessary wear on some transmission components, like the linkage and shift forks. This wear is incredibly minor, of course—gearboxes are designed to shift, after all. But over the course of thousands of stoplights, it’ll make some difference. At the same time, the beauty of torque converters means you don’t have to worry about putting extra wear on the transmission by holding the brake to keep the car stationary, at least not for a minute at a time. So there’s no strong argument that shifting to Park avoids extra wear on the gearbox, save for very specific circumstances.
So … Why?
On paper, going through the effort of shifting into Park only to have to put your foot back on the brake and shift back to Drive after 45 seconds to maybe a minute of sitting doesn’t even seem worth the trouble. For me, though, those series of movements have become second nature.
Roll to a stop at a stoplight, flip the transmission into Park, and relax. I’ve got it down to a science, so it only takes me about half a second to get from stopped to fully in park. Then, I’m able to take my foot off the brake and give my legs (and the rest of my body) some time to stretch out and relax. It’s during these moments that I can truly appreciate the Range Rover’s comfy captain’s chairs.
To me, that combined full second of shifting work is worth the tradeoff. When I drive, it’s usually only for longer trips (at least an hour), so having those tiny breaks to briefly disconnect from the car is nice. Doing this in New York City, where I live, is especially easy because I can keep an eye on the countdown clocks for the pedestrian crosswalks to know exactly when the light will turn green. Having these countdowns is what really makes shifting into Park worth it. Without them, it’s more of a guessing game of when the light will turn green, which is more stressful than relaxing.
Of course, I’m always keeping my eyes on my mirrors for emergency vehicles—I usually only pull this move when I’m boxed in by other cars in heavy traffic. The only issue I’ve encountered with this method, so far, is when someone ahead of me decides to ease forward to fill a gap in the line of cars waiting for the red light. In this case, I usually just switch my car back into Drive prematurely, move forward so as not to make everyone behind me angry, and keep my foot on the brake for the remainder of the light cycle.
The Internet Has Mixed (But Mostly Negative) Opinions
When I pitched this story, most of The Autopian staff were pretty surprised, and not one staffer seemed to take my side. Harsh, but fair. I figured I might find someone on the great big internet who feels the same way I do about this topic, but most people seem to take the more rational route.
Friend of The Autopian Kristen Lee wrote in 2016 about how she was baffled by why people put their cars into Park at stoplights, mentioning that most of her colleagues were equally as confused by such a move. The only holdout, interestingly, was our very own David Tracy, who said, at the time, he keeps at least one of his cars in neutral:
“Because the car’s got too much torque and too little brakes,” he explained matter-of-factly. “Requires too much pressure at long stop lights. Very annoying.”
That sounds like a very specific problem, but it turns out going to neutral isn’t a niche solution for some people. This 2014 thread on the topic from the BobIsTheOilGuy.com forum had several people advocating for switching to Neutral and continuing to hold the brakes at stoplights. These folks argue that having the car in Neutral will allow it to roll forward in case of a rear-end impact, reducing overall strain on occupants, which is a fair assumption.
The great minds of Reddit seem to think shifting into Park is a bad idea. Back in 2019, someone on the /r/Driving Subreddit asked whether it would be fine to shift into Park at stoplights, and was met with a whole bunch of “No.”
This Phenomenon Might Soon Disappear Anyway
Thanks to the advent of modern braking tech, this is a solved issue. Lots of new cars have a function called Brake Hold, which is a system that, as you might be able to tell from the name, holds the brakes for you when you come to a stop. This way, you can lift your foot off the brake and relax as much as you want, without having to shift out of Drive. All you have to do to get moving is press the accelerator pedal. The system registers the accelerator input and releases the brakes, freeing you to drive normally.
As the average age of cars on the road increases, more cars will have this feature onboard, which means fewer weirdos like me will have to resort to moving their gear selector from Drive to Park and back just for that tiny hit of relief. I’ll be the first to admit I get a little sad when I see a new press car I’m testing doesn’t have a brake hold button. But more and more these days, the brake hold function is standard.
I’m not expecting many people to come to my defense here, as the cons obviously outweigh the pros. But to all who shift into Park at stoplights, I see you. And I understand you.
Top graphic images: Brian Silvestro
Embracing the reality of my age, every once in a while my ankle hurts for little or no reason. I’ll put the car in park to stretch and rotate my ankle, but I push the brake with my left foot. I don’t trust the driver behind me is paying close enough attention to notice I’m not actually moving.
I thought you were going to say it was necessary to keep the engine running given your current ride.
My first 3 cars were all carburetored and built in the 70’s and were a little uh, rough.
So I learned to put cars in N or P because it couldn’t idle without dying. Annoying because it sometimes wouldn’t start again at the light….embarassing!
This is fair. Michigander / Michiganian here: Cold winters back in the day often meant we had to put the car neutral to rev it up to generate extra heat.
Don’t vehicles have tick, tick, tick roll backwards down the street, parking pawls in their slush boxes any more? I used to live on a steep street where it used to provide occasional entertainment. People would get out of their car, shut the door and omagerd!
Yeah I was thinking “must be nice in perfectly flatland.” I dare not try this in Seattle, although I have expressed curiosity as to whether modern vehicles get stuck in P…I learned the hard way on a ’74 Volvo and have never had the moxie to try it since!
“Park?” What’s that? *tilts head in stickshift*
The only time I shift an auto to park…or neutral…is while waiting in the drive-thru, or at this magical thing called a “railroad crossing,” where mile-long or more strings of giant vehicles block the road for minutes at a time. I don’t mind it so much but many knuckleheads will get sick of it and turn around across 5 lanes of traffic. I’ll still sit with my foot on the brake so the taillights stay lit until someone comes to a full stop behind. If it’s a long train even in a stickshift I’ll pull the handbrake. I see no reason to do this at stoplights, but I live where a traffic jam is maybe 20 cars.
Cases like trains or road construction with alternating one lane road are exceptions to the general rule. Stoplights? not so much.
Only 1 of 4 cars is an auto, and I sometimes put it in neutral (or park) in slow drive-thru’s. Not sure I’ve ever done it at a stop light?
EDIT or as below, a train crossing.
Where do you live? In the US, darn near everything is an automatic these days.
I meant 1 of 4 of MY cars. The Crosstrek, that I didn’t care if I found a manual or auto, it was an appliance.
I could see doing this waiting on a 5 minute train crossing, but 1 minute light?
Get out of that bad habit
“Get out of that bad habit.”
Please. Now.
This is one of those things that isn’t actually a big deal but it really riles people up (myself included!)
Since we are admitting stuff my car doesn’t have stop/start so I manually stop it at long lights and drive thru’s that I know are slow
This is insane behavior.
Not good for your engine. Much engine wear occurs during start-up.
A cold engine, sure. But once your fluids are up to operating temperature, the engine is perfectly fine. Car is at 110k with original everything except the battery had to be replaced after 11 years of service. I borescoped the cylinder walls at 100k when replacing plugs and the cross hatching is pristine.
I’ve done both over my 50 year driving journey. My relatively new (18) accord does the brake hold. My Olds Intrigue towards the end of its life tended to overheat when idling in traffic. I used to flip it into neutral which seemed to help it keep cool. My 70 442 W30 strained against the brakes at idle. So I’d flip it into neutral (the car was cammed, had headers, big carb and manifold, high stall converter and was a general pain to drive in traffic) I’ve never had to ‘get out of the way’ and IDGAF about people behind me being confused, I take it as a given. So all over the map. Asking for and expecting coherent answers on Reddit is just silly. Do whatever works for you.
Love your writing, thanks.
You keep this jujumagumbo inside the 5 boroughs, we dont want that up here!
“It’s a dumb idea but I do it anyway.” Nice one
I’ve seen this attitude a lot on car related Instagram pages and it needs to stop. Usually it’s “when other people drive like maniacs it’s dangerous and detrimental to car culture but I’m special and actually when I do it it’s safe”
I’m sure the comments will be civilized
I’ve been rear-ended a few times by idiots while waiting at lights, which resulted in body damage. If I were in Park I can only assume I’d also have transmission damage. And you need your foot on the brake pedal to keep the lights on (to avoid even more idiots, hopefully). Nope, not a good idea.
I sometimes put my car in park at an exceptionally long red light as a silent form of protest towards whoever programmed the timing.
I hate seeing this almost as much as:
Have you encountered the person that thinks throttles are binary? I passed a V8 explorer that was driving an inconsistent speed and when I pull up next to them I can hear they are just mashing the throttle and then coasting to maintain speed. Race to speed limit, then dance around it while mashing throttle. Like isn’t your foot tired as hell?
My old man used to drive like that. He’d had a spinal injury decades before I came along and hadn’t had it fixed. His right leg would start to hurt and he’d lift off to relieve the pressure.
Drove my cdo nuts.
Girl I knew in high school steered her 80’s El Camino this way. We’d be going around a gentle curve on a 2 lane highway: straight, veer, straight veer, straight, veer. It was as if the curve was faceted like an in old racing game.
My wife used to drive like this when I first met her. Then we watched a marathon session of Canada’s Worst Driver. She hasn’t done it for years. 🙂
What was the rationale behind driving like that?!
Albertans regularly drive lights off well past dusk. No running lights, headlights, nothing. Never seen it anywhere else.
Very common in winter in the Seattle area. I don’t notice it as much during the summer. It’s frustrating because you can flash them all you want and 97% of the time they’re completely oblivious.
If they’re being really egregious sometimes I’ll flip my lights off and back on real quick and this NEVER works.
I urged news stations to cover this, and they ALWAYS have an easy time finding police and city vehicles along with many others, driving lights off in rain and snow.
I know someone from South America that thinks marker lights are all you need at dark : thirty.
He calls them “dusk lights”.
They made it illegal in this state to drive with marker lights, but no headlights.
I thought DRLs were mandated in Canada back in the 90s?
Yes they are. Lots of pre drl cars still on the road, especially in rural areas.
Re #4: There are a lot of worn-out trucks and E-Series vans in the Midwest doing the crabwalk. They aren’t lifted, they’re just crap. lol
It always catches my eye and distracts me, especially when I see them moving around on a well rutted road
We finally have a contender for the title of “Worst Autopian Take” to rival DTs opinion on timing belts.
I’ve owned too many interference engines where you have to dismantle the whole accessory setup just to get eyes on the timing belt not to spend the extra 10 minutes and 10 dollars putting a new one on after it.
nah that one’s worse
But where does it rank in the auto journo universe of takes that also includes “Pizza Is Not A Meal”?
Definitely not as bad as that all-timer.
When my feet are past sore because I’ve been pounding the concrete for 12 hours on the expo floor, Auto Hold is a godsend.
Eh, I don’t have too much of an issue with it. It’s situational, and when you do it, seems reasonable. This would have to be maybe #2,457 on the list of most annoying NYC driving habits. It hardly registers.
Personally, I only ever do this at one particular light near me, but only because it’s a genuinely 2+ minute light every time (4 ways that’s one side at a time due to lack of turning lanes). It’s a real shitty one, and sometimes I get stuck at it for two cycles.
I’ve seen ten to twenty minute cycles.
People doing makeup the whole time or eating a full meal.
My commute has a ton of short red lights, it’s not worth it to put the car in park. I also have a few drawbridges on my commute and I definitely put it in park when that bridge goes up.
https://images-stag.jazelc.com/uploads/theautopian-m2en/range-rover-drivers-seat-2048×1536.jpg
please clean those seats
Was gonna say the same thing. For leather with lots of embedded dead greasy skin mush in it, diluted laundry detergent and a brush work well to release it.
There’s many years of wet farts trapped in those folds and crevices. I’d love to take a sample and see what grows on an agar plate.
I was told this would be unhinged. And I was told correctly.
Let me present you one of the biggest benefits of EVs: one pedal driving. Any automaker that doesnt have this feature (Looking at you Nissan), is doing it wrong.
Auto Hold on ICE cars is annoying since you have to set it up every time you start the car. One pedal driving stays on.
My 2016 VW Touran has auto hold (which I love) that does not need to be activated; by default it’s on.
My CX-30 has auto hold and I love it. The default off behavior is annoying, but it won’t enable until I buckle my seatbelt, and the button is barely a hands-width away from the buckle, so I’ve got it down to one swift motion of buckle, press, shift. That said, I’ve seen some cars where it’s placed very out of the way.
My cars with hold do it by you pushing the brake all the way down after coming to a stop, no special activation required. Hit the gas and it turns off.
Auto-hold is one of the best inventions It is great in heavy traffic and when stuck at traffic lights that go beyond seconds of waiting into the minute or two range. The other good use for it is while at an drive up ATM, always in gear, ready to go if someone was to ever try to come up on me.
I have used it in cars since 2016 and when I am in a car that doesn’t have it, it is surely missed.
After having a Tesla for over a year now, add not having to tap the brakes at under 5 mph to shift (and no risk of damage) and not having to press a button to turn a car on or off. It’s the little things.
You can do this in a tight city where you’re barely ever exceeding 35 mph at the most. It’s a different ball game entirely when you live somewhere with 45-50 mph speed limits and psychos on their phones routinely going 20 over. I’m always staring at the rear view at stop lights fully prepared to get tf out of the way of a Karen in a Grand Cherokee at a second’s notice.
Yeah this is not a strategy that works with “stroads”.
Finding yourself on the same side of an argument as David is a signal that it might be time to take a long look into the mirror.